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DECLARATIONS
SUPPLY CHAIN RISK
Overseas working conditions: Is your client on the hook?
Corporate clients who get their goods from jurisdictions with inadequate protection for workers’ rights could end up being named as defendants
If your corporate clients do business overseas, the liability they may face if workers are injured or subject to
abuse outside of Canada is about to come under scrutiny by Canada’s top court. The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to clarify the risk expo- sure when it releases its ruling in Gize Yebeyo Araya, et al. v. Nevsun Resourc- es Ltd.
It is not unusual for clients in mining and manufacturing to be named in Cana- da in class-action suits by non-Canadian
B Y G R E G M E C K B A C H , Associate Editor workers. In January 2019, the Supreme
Court heard an appeal from Vancou- ver-based Nevsun, which has a stake in a zinc-copper mine in the East African nation of Eritrea. The appeal is not on the merits of the case, but on whether a lawsuit could actually be heard by a Ca- nadian court.
At the time of writing, the top court had yet to release a decision. Once a ruling is made, that might provide some guidance on the liability risk to Cana- dian companies with supply chains
overseas in areas with sub-standard or non-existent protection for workers, Chris Burkett, Toronto-based partner with Baker McKenzie, said in an inter- view with Canadian Underwriter.
In another lawsuit, plaintiffs from Guatemala alleged that security per- sonnel working for Ontario’s Hudbay Minerals Inc. subsidiaries committed human rights abuses near a proposed open-pit nickel mining operation.
Allegations against Hudbay have not been proven. In Choc v. Hudbay Minerals
TOTAL LOSSES | JAN 3
The frequency of auto total loss outcomes reached 17.53% in the first half of 2019, in part because insurance companies were lowering the bar for declaring a vehicle a total loss, according to Ryan Mandell of Mitchell International.
LIFELABS DATA BREACH |
JAN 3
17.53% A proposed $1.13-billion class action
lawsuit has been filed in Ontario against medical services company LifeLabs over a data breach that allowed hackers to access the per- sonal information of up to 15 million customers.
canadianunderwriter.ca
| February 2020 15